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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: race · cap · perch · firm · degree · ground · cold · content

  1. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  9. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  10. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. race — a contest
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. degree — temperature
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. degree — from a university
  6. cap — a hat
  7. ground — a position
  8. perch — the fish
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. ground — the earth
  12. ground — crushed
  13. cap — of ice
  14. cold — an illness
  15. firm — decided
  16. cap — a lid
  17. cold — not warm
  18. race — humankind
  19. race — the arms race
  20. firm — a company
  21. content — the amount
  22. content — happy
  23. degree — an amount
  24. firm — steady

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com